Dramatic Irony In Sophocles Oedipus The King

In Sophocles' play, Oedipus the King, dramatic irony is used to show the tragic fate that Oedipus is cursed with. He uses irony through Oedipus’ flaws such as trying to protect the city of Thebes yet he is the one destroying it. He also spends all of his time in the play trying to find the murderer of Laois and eventually finds out he is the one that kills his own father. By the end of the play, Oedipus realizes he is cursed with the prophecy and that he cannot bare to look at himself or let his people learn that their great king turns out bad. Sophocles, the playwright of Oedipus the King, wants us to understand that regardless of how great our intentions are we cannot escape our fate.

Oedipus’ real parents, Iocaste and Laois, learned of his prophecy, “marry his own mother, shed his father’s blood with his own hands”

This lead to Oedipus trying to figure out who killed Laois, the previous king of Thebes. In the beginning, he is told who killed Laois by Apollo’s servant, Teiresias, yet Oedipus denies it, “The damned man, the murderer of Laois, That man is in Thebes” (53). This affects the audience because we see Oedipus finally learn the truth that he has been trying to make sense of, but he became angry at the accusation. Instead of accepting it, he decided to blame Creon so he could avoid his fate. Sophocles uses this scene to show Oedipus’ denial and temper because it simply shows he is scared for it to be true. By the end of the act, he finally discovered his corruption “I killed him, I killed them all” (64). He was in disbelief to learn this, but in the back of his mind, he knew the truth already, told by Teiresias, “You yourself are the pollution of this country” (50). Oedipus faces his fate and punishes himself for it because he knows that there is nothing else he could have done to get himself out of his